Richmond had an extensive history as a port city; the city formed at its current location as the Fall Line prevents further navigation up the James River.
The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway saw Richmond as a prime location to export
coal. To support this, the company built a
tunnel under Church Hill, and operations began to the port in 1873. However, changing shipping technologies meant that larger ships were more economical, and the failure to materialize of a proposed James River dredging project caused the owner of the C&O,
Collis Huntington, to extend the tracks 74 miles east to Newport News for a direct connection with the port there. Operations in the tunnel ceased in 1902 after completion of a new, more direct, viaduct. In 1925, it collapsed and was sealed off. The port's facilities at its current location were built in 1940. The port was built on land that was at one time part of the unincorporated town and port of Warwick, which was burned by the British in 1781. It continues to serve
Chester, Pennsylvania,
Liverpool, England and
Antwerp, Belgium, and added service to
Wilmington, North Carolina.
Eimskip, Iceland's biggest transportation company, began service in November 2006 and ended service in 2011. The
2008 recession hit the port hard, and caused many carriers to stop providing service to it. The facility lost 78 percent of its cargo traffic, However, in 2008, with city funding, the
James River Barge Line started the 64 Express, a barge service that ramped up to provide thrice-weekly service from the Port of Virginia. entered into a 5-year lease on the facility in 2010. A modern $6.1 million investment project will allow faster movement of trucks through the gate, add a secured drop-lot for truckers to drop their loads at night, and add improved lighting to allow barges to unload later into the night, which will improve cargo-handling speed. Starting in 2024, the port has used clean electricity to power all its vehicles and operations. ==Cargo handling capabilities==